From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3Through fresh and playful language, Myers explores a broad range of bedtime moods and subjects. In What the Dad Said to His Kids at 8:23 on a School Night, children meet a funny, frustrated parent: All right, you rambling roustabouts,/you leaping, quirking, twitching, ever-itching little rebel rodents/get your waggly buns to bed! Meanwhile, At the Skunks' House, a mother sends her stinkbugs, all cuddly and smelly off to their bushy-tail beds. A Bed-Going Rhyme is just right for little ones who are resisting the inevitable: Nonny nonny nussknocker/Nonny nonny nore/Read them a story but/they want one more. The book also includes selections that will reassure young sleepers. In My Brother and Me, two siblings settle down for the night (Like otters on waters,/...quiet and safe and dreaming), while another entry advises, If you feel lonely in your bed,/then don't forget, my sleepyhead:/all night long, as darkness lulls,/you're sleeping with the Animals. From serene to wild, the moods of the verses are captured by Cunningham's excellent pastel illustrations, which range in style from realistic to whimsical. This lovely collection of tucking-in poems will have broad child appeal.Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Myers writes songs, in addition to stories and poems, and the selections in this collection beg for a guitar to back up their foot-tapping beats and infectious, repetitive words. The subject is bedtime, but these aren't sleepy-time rhymes. Many poems describe rambunctious prebedtime preparations: "tubbed and towel-rubbed, / now jumping in jammers / like bed-bound jackhammers." Children will enjoy the nonsense, nursery-rhyme wordplay ("dizzy busy buzzy bees / waggle-work"). And then there's the decription of bedtime "At the Skunks' House," filled with stinky endearments ("little stinkhearts," "wee Limburgers") that are sure to provoke giggles. In a more earnest selection, a girl speaks about the thrilling freedom dreams bring. The pastel illustrations ably extend both the family coziness and the outside world's quiet starlight. For more bedtime verse, pair this with The Drowsy Hours (2002), edited by Susan Pearson. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
PreSchool-Grade 3Through fresh and playful language, Myers explores a broad range of bedtime moods and subjects. In What the Dad Said to His Kids at 8:23 on a School Night, children meet a funny, frustrated parent: All right, you rambling roustabouts,/you leaping, quirking, twitching, ever-itching little rebel rodents/get your waggly buns to bed! Meanwhile, At the Skunks' House, a mother sends her stinkbugs, all cuddly and smelly off to their bushy-tail beds. A Bed-Going Rhyme is just right for little ones who are resisting the inevitable: Nonny nonny nussknocker/Nonny nonny nore/Read them a story but/they want one more. The book also includes selections that will reassure young sleepers. In My Brother and Me, two siblings settle down for the night (Like otters on waters,/...quiet and safe and dreaming), while another entry advises, If you feel lonely in your bed,/then don't forget, my sleepyhead:/all night long, as darkness lulls,/you're sleeping with the Animals. From serene to wild, the moods of the verses are captured by Cunningham's excellent pastel illustrations, which range in style from realistic to whimsical. This lovely collection of tucking-in poems will have broad child appeal.Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Myers writes songs, in addition to stories and poems, and the selections in this collection beg for a guitar to back up their foot-tapping beats and infectious, repetitive words. The subject is bedtime, but these aren't sleepy-time rhymes. Many poems describe rambunctious prebedtime preparations: "tubbed and towel-rubbed, / now jumping in jammers / like bed-bound jackhammers." Children will enjoy the nonsense, nursery-rhyme wordplay ("dizzy busy buzzy bees / waggle-work"). And then there's the decription of bedtime "At the Skunks' House," filled with stinky endearments ("little stinkhearts," "wee Limburgers") that are sure to provoke giggles. In a more earnest selection, a girl speaks about the thrilling freedom dreams bring. The pastel illustrations ably extend both the family coziness and the outside world's quiet starlight. For more bedtime verse, pair this with The Drowsy Hours (2002), edited by Susan Pearson. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
